Resin Market
Is it just me or does CDI not track the real pricing of stretch film? It seems as though I have a hungry pound of stretch film puppies and they are all fighting over the scraps that I throw to them. It’s not a pretty sight. What happened to this disciplined group of people? I remember the people who smiled at me and told me all about how they sell value, only to see them now begging like some poor Oliver Twist character, “Please sir, could you spare a toppin or a small truckload of film?”. It’s discouraging to me to see these folks like this and then a friend told me, “remember how they treated you when they were fat and happy?” Yes, I do remember those days. I can say this, whether you are picking some fresh BERRY’s or joining a fraternity with a Greek S, take your pick, Canadian, Brazilian and Taiwanese, they are all desperate right now. It’s like reverse ebay and I was told by the largest manufacturer of films to play a game called, “NAME MY PRICE”. CDI was flat this month but my belief is that some sort of calamity will stop the bleeding but I can not account for the hunger pains of the stretch film industry. Friend and foe alike have attached themselves to me lately, which is bizarre, I can’t really tell one from the other. They all say the same thing, “PLEASE, SIR, I WANT SOME MORE”.
I have to attribute the above to Oliver Twist from Dickens.
Paper Market
As I look at the economy from a 360 view, I see the paper industry in the same hunger pattern as the resin world. There is so much capacity and so much arrogance, which makes an awful combination. I would love to say that pricing has fallen from the highs but since our contracts are activated on the notion that after 30.00 comes off the major index, we see a decrease. Well, you will love this, in 2 months the index showed a 10 dollar and the next month, a 20 dollar decrease. This of course prompted our friends to tell us that the contract is not activated to give us a decrease. I am not one to play games unless they are called Monopoly and SORRY, so I told the Monopoly that I was SORRY for them because in the world of over supply and little demand, economic forces work like the law of physics and we will see where their pricing falls. I have seen some tremendous deals out there, but not on the paper I would recommend for anyone but my competitors to buy! However, I cannot expect that as they keep cranking out product, the warehouse can only take so much product until they have to make a move to extract themselves from this overcapacity issue. The paper industry is much more disciplined so you won’t see the dramatic swings from them, but unlike the stretch film people, whom are sweating profusely, you may see a little dampness on their brow.
Ron’s view:
I recently turned the big 5-0 in August. I have to say, I don’t know how this happened, life marched on while I was busy watching Law and Order reruns. Suddenly, songs I thought were not that old are showing up on the OLDIES station and I’m thinking, crap, I am really getting older. I remember 45s, dial rotary phones and black and white televisions with bunny ears! I also remember a time before microwaves and the convenience of a TV dinner was 45 minutes at 350 degrees, don’t forget to unwrap the foil to expose the apple cobbler. Yummy!
If you know the term, 525,600 minutes, it’s how many minutes are in a year. It’s amazing how fast those minutes come and go now. To the ones who are losing their battle with cancer, the minutes are precious and valuable. To the ones who are young and dumb, like I was, drinking and smoking and throwing those minutes away as if you have so many more. I also measure time by how many PMMIs I have gone to. Every year, Chicago or Las Vegas. It’s amazing how many times I count down the days until my FAMILY REUNION. I get to see my foes and friends, and treat those imposters as the same. The constant parade of familiar faces, just a little older and with new cards. One of the first things they say to me as they give me a new card from a new company that they work for, “if you are ever hiring!”. PackExpo is a time that I cram 525,600 minutes worth of meetings in 4 days. Where we hug old friends, meet new ones and we toast to our dearly departed. Where we laugh so hard it hurts and we shed some tears over our mentors that have left their legacy to us but we miss seeing their smiling faces.
This year, we are foregoing our BBQ that we have at our Las Vegas facility and I know how popular that was every year. You all don’t know it, but so much time and energy goes to the event and then on the eve of the BBQ, I’m fretting about how many guests will show up. Do we have enough busses and are we able to get everyone from the show to our facility. It truly is so much fun but exhausting for all of us and it’s always been a great success. However, this year, we are exhibiting at PackExpo. We are proud of some of our new product lines we want to show. We have introduced more innovative products this year than any time prior. Our new SX2 film is the best film and we are inviting you to come see the product first hand. Imagine if you could buy a product at a commodity price but have it perform better than the highest end film in the market-place? If you could buy a Ferrari for the cost of a Chevrolet Chevette, why wouldn’t you? I am pleased to say that we have an exclusive product with exclusive resin blends made just for us in the United States. I can’t wait to share this with you, You will be amazed. After all, I’m now one of the elders in this industry and I have not been amazed often. What we have in the SX2 product line is something that… well, you have to come and see it so you can be as amazed as I am. It’s so good, I bought the rights to the product for the United States because I want to share this product with all my friends so you can make as much money as possible. Your competition will be wondering what happened and you will be selling the highest film technology available at 20-25% below your competition. I am smiling thinking of the fun you and I will have selling this product together.
We invite you to our booth to come see SX2 and all our amazing new innovative ideas. Take a look at our new and improved DX EdgeGuard product that is even stronger and will offer you ultimate value and is more environmentally friendly. Our Vented Films are the very best product and we introduced our new LITE version which offers even more cost savings. Titanium is our reinforced stretch film that will offer you the greatest containment and which we call the strongest stretch film in the world. If someone disagrees, please bring us a challenge.
If you need a complimentary registration number, use our code 12U78. We look forward to seeing you soon. And even though I’m a member of the big 5-0 and staring at my AARP card, I’m still as competitive and hungry as ever. So I say, “PLEASE, SIR, I WANT SOME MORE.”
Come visit us at our booth, Alliance Plastics
Booth # US8445.
